Separating the bloggers from the tossers

Separating the bloggers from the tossers

Monday 27 November 2006 02.51 EST
First published on Monday 27 November 2006 02.51 EST

David Cameron's "Inner Tosser" campaign (of which more later) leads me back to the pastel-coloured playground of Webcameron, the Conservative party leader's website. Webcameron, as you might remember, launched a couple of months back, with the idea that Cameron would reconnect with the people via politics2.0 - his own blog, video clips, tag clouds - thus trashing the centralised model of political communications so artfully crafted by Alastair Campbell.

Cameron has identified something which is undoubtedly true. And I don't mean he has an inner, or indeed outer, tosser - more that politics, like the media industry, is constantly challenged by changing consumer and technology patterns, and needs to adapt or die.

Webcameron looks like an earnest attempt at this re-engagement. But, unfortunately, it is a bit like buying a copy of Jockeyslut and discovering the Spectator inside. While the technology and jargon is all there, the true intent to engage isn't. Hence Cameron's videos, blog posts, etc, never veer into the realm of the conversational. They never refer to sources outside Cameron or point to material he's seen or read, or link to people he's talked to. It is a one-way diatribe of not-quite policies.

He should take a leaf out of the books of his colleagues. Like Jonathan Sheppard's ToryRadio blog, which contains trivia, like stuff about his new car, or his failure to appear on Sky News, alongside posts about the regulation of the internet and so on. It's not the best blog in the world, but it has authenticity.

So back to the Inner Tosser, which is called a "viral video". What it is, in fact, is a very standard ad by the Tory party, a bit like the Frank drugs campaign, which is quite cleverly shot and executed. It does not necessarily deserve the opprobrium heaped on to it by Vince Cable, but it might deserve an estuary "whatever". It has all the charm of a "grooming" programme for naïve young voters who unintentionally find it on the internet thinking it's a basket of animated puppies, and the next thing they know they're being lectured on social responsibility.

"Viral" campaigns are so called because they circulate easily without traditional marketing methods. They are usually scrappy pieces of video or photographs which are forwarded by email and shared on social-networking sites because they are "cool". You cannot declare something "viral" just because it is in email format. A diligent member of the Tory PR team had clearly decided to post the campaign on YouTube, where it had attracted three ratings, one of which was clearly from another Tory PR team member. (However, it is not all bad, as it has allowed the opportunity for parody and for people to tag their own videos "Tory tosser").

The Inner Tosser lacks authenticity, as does Webcameron. In an age when people really do live their lives online, second-life profiles and all, filming what amounts to press releases looks staid and odd. The lack of comments and the 5/5 ratings on each post only adds to the idea this is a place where no one wants to go. The sound of tumbleweed is deafening.

Embracing a medium does not mean just copying a format, it means understanding the rules of engagement. Gordon Brown has what might be a blog, but which he hasn't updated since June 18. While this is pretty appalling in terms of reaching out to the blogging community, it does have a level of authenticity about it - it is clearly something he was made to do but abandoned when he went on his summer holidays and hasn't been back to since.

No doubt between now and the next election the increase in politicians blogging will be like lemmings falling off a cliff, but a word of advice if I may. Unless you have an inner blogger - don't bother.